The covering of foam cushion members with fabric for use in vehicular seats in commonly performed with automated upholstering equipment. For aesthetic purposes, it is frequently desirable to cover the cushion with two or more fabrics of different colors, patterns, etc., which have been arranged in an attractive fashion. The two or more fabric pieces are generally sewn together along their edges, with the sew seam slightly recessed into the cushion for comfort. During an automated upholstering process, however, the fabric covers have a tendency to shift out of the proper orientation on the cushion and thus mislocate the sew seams of the two or more fabrics upon the cushion.
The prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,045 to Allen J. Selbert, issued Aug. 23, 1988, discloses the use of a plastic locator strip which is sewn between two pieces of fabric covering at the sew seam. The locator strip is adapted to be held in an automated tool for positively positioning the sew seam of the two fabrics into the proper orientation on the cushion. After the upholstering process is complete, the locator strip is torn from the fabric by disjoining at a pinched and perforated area thereby leaving a non-removable solid base of the locator strip underneath the sew seam which is permanently imbedded in the cushion. This reference discloses an inherently deficient upholstering process in that the solid base portion is left imbedded underneath the fabric covers, which is bothersome and uncomfortable to sit on or lean against.